DaptoFunlandGuy

It will never happen - Dreamworld needs to be able to park the train out of the way so that they only run 1 train during busy periods. Two train operation only occurs when there is a film crew in the park, or a special media event. Without a transfer track, it's a very difficult process to put a train on just for a media day... plus - where would they store it? Seriously though - its a great idea (and anyone who doesn't want to ride kumbak still has the option not to) but from a dreamworld perspective - this would only add to their maintenance costs (two trains instead of one) without any real payoff for them except increased efficiency capacity. not going to happen.

That reference was already made a couple days ago Gazza - you're in the wrong timezone... go back to sleep! Awesome - colours already proven to fade their asses off in 12-18 months time... this will be their 'constrictor' lol.

^some would just call that "true to walt's original design" which would instantly make it the pinnacle of dark-boat-rides. You'd get away with a bodgie ceiling in the 60's - nobody cared. they all just said 'wow'. I sometimes think we set our expectations too high these days, and look for fault deliberately.

No - but it's far easier to fly a lighting truss when there's nothing on the ground below it.

I watched both videos side by side, and made my judgment based off them alone. Because the buggies force you to face a certain way, there is a lot of detail "off to the left" as you enter the room that you don't see until you're near Ariel. With the new lighting it appears to be lost. I realise it's only a video, but as Rappa just said above - I don't think the target demographic had any issue with how it was lit in the past. That said - it does appear lit with more than just blacklight and I haven't seen the new version in person... so i'll give it the benefit of the doubt. Looking at the pics (and my knowledge of the show building) aren't the lights suspended below the curved ceiling by chain? It may serve to minimise the visibility. It'd be nice if MW had someone with a bit of flair for theatrical lighting who could go in there and light it up subtly, rather than with glaring warehouse lighting... all about the budget though i'm sure. I have personally seen Pirates ceiling, but you aren't looking for it. Mansion is the same, although they do use several scrims in the 'very obvious' spots. RSR and Splash is done very well, but nevertheless still visible. It's Small World i'm really pointing at as far as visible ceilings, as each 'country' room is short, so long-distance viewing of everything is rare - it means you are always going to look straight up to see characters and thats where the roof tiles come into focus. The only point i'm trying to make is that one member stated MW's "plain black ceilings" are "annoying". Since Disney is usually held out to be the pinnacle of dark rides, I was just trying to point out that they don't do it much differently from MW, so either they're terrible too, or MW isn't as bad as made out.

GGB - there is a lot less to do with rust, and a lot more to do with structural integrity. It's been said a few times that cracks had been identified in the track, and last overhaul they were x-raying the track and doing all sorts of things. Yes the corrosive environment would not have helped, but I don't think "rust" is the issue that has been cited.

See, I think thats rather horrible. There is so much detail in that room and much of it is lost in the darkness now. It was such a brightly lit room with some wonderful characters spaced around the room - now you don't really notice the characters suspended from the roof - and even down to the little details - like the spinning starfish on some of the rocks are barely there anymore. If it wasn't "under the sea-ish" enough, they could have fixed it with some water effect lighting. I preferred it lit up. The ride is aimed at children and they aren't going to give a shit about the roof. I am glad they fixed Ariel up though - the old animatronic had a munted face... the new one is a bit nicer - and her hair has been made to look more natural realistic now too.

Seaplanes as a theme confirmed in an email from Dreamworld: Get ready to be WipedOut! We are excited to announce one of our favourite rides, The Wipeout, has just reopened! But wait there's more! Don't miss out on all the fun this September as we are also launching our new BIG9 Thrill Ride, Tail Spin. You'll be reaching heights of 22 meters, where you can create your own thrill by spinning as much or least as you like! And we will also see the arrival of a new water slide to WhiteWater World at Dreamworld. The Triple Vortex, the hottest high capacity tubing ride on the planet! Plus there's much, much more coming this September to Dreamworld. Be sure to grab your Unlimited World Pass online from $79.99* so you can visit as many times as you like until 26th June 2015. ----------------------------------- Get ready to spin into action as Dreamworld's Big 8 Thrill Rides will soon be joined by a Big 9 Thrill Ride arriving this September. On board the Tail Spin, you'll strap yourself in to one of the twelve mini-aeroplanes as you wait for your nerve shattering flight to begin. -------------------------------------------- From the website: Ride under construction – due to launch in September 2014 Prepare yourself for a takeoff like you’ve never experienced. On board the Tail Spin, you’ll strap yourself in to one of the twelve mini-aeroplanes as you wait for your nerve shattering flight to begin. You’ll soar to a whopping 72 feet, giving you a birds eye view of Ocean Parade. Your plane will then start to whip through the air faster and faster. Grab the controls and let the air tricks begin. Will you take the scenic flight? Or push the limits with a series of heart-racing spins?

I can't quite imagine how Ariel looks with those changes. i thought the brightly lit and coloured area was perfect for the 'under the sea' tune - it in itself was quite upbeat and bubbly. Blacklight implies fluoro paints have been used on everything, which in my opinion tends to ruin it a bit and make it more of an eerie look. I'm glad I got to see it lit up.

But thats just it Richard - you're not being fair (but not in the way you think)... I take what you're saying, and you're making allowances for our parks because of the smaller scales and smaller budgets, but Disney AREN'T all seamless, and they too range from really to not so well done. I don't think Movie World are in any way sub-par when it comes to dark-ride roofing... eg: out of the rides I mentioned above - they do well with Splash, and RSR, (Space isn't hidden so much as it's made a feature), however both small worlds i've been to, Ariel and Midway Mania are clearly visible in the ambient light of the attraction as plain black ceiling tiles, with holes cut in various places for cameras and animatronic control cables. While i'm add it i'll throw in Pirates because several scenes have the same black ceiling tiled roof. Even worse - on Small World and Ariel - the design of the attraction has moving objects animatronics overhead, and in doing so, force you to look upwards where the ceiling is plain to see. This is different to LTRR or Scooby where the majority of the sight-lines were all at or near eye level. I don't think there is ANYTHING to complain about the plain black roof in this attraction, especially since it is a curved, seamless ceiling without joints (other than fire and lighting holes), and it is far better than black ceiling tiles.

So do a lot of Disney rides. It's far safer to have a plain black ceiling containing all your fire fighting equipment than to cover it over with a facade that runs the risk of completely enveloping riders in the event of a fire. Does Small World annoy you? (even the one at HKDL is the same)... Does Radiator Springs Racers annoy you? Ariel's Undersea Adventure? Toy Story Midway Mania? Haunted Mansion? Even Splash and Space are all plain black ceilings. So the reason is - most people aren't looking at the ceiling, so why spend money on it for the few whingers who need to nitpick the ride to shit? Paint it black. If it's black, it's invisible. It doesn't stand out, it doesn't distract you, and it allows the park to spend more money on the parts of the ride that really matter - like the ride system, animatronics, theming, automatic on board fire detection systems with built in auto-reversing thrusters...

Maybe they're doing filming for a new advertisement?

You're joking right?

I think thats a great idea Flea - but I feel like they would need to have done that before doing such extensive facade work... Small world has a plain black ceiling - theirs is ceiling tiles - not even curved to mask the roof...

Thanks for the last shots of viper. It strikes me that some of these photos are taken in areas inaccessible (or at least not intended to be) to guests... or is this somehow some very clever angles? Where exactly are the airbrush caps - it's not quite clear where in the park they've desecrated?

Bermuda's boats were carted off early on though - so by that definition, it wasn't SBNO. I'm inclined to view Mine ride as SBNO. From what we do know, the track is complete, no work has been taken to demolish or remove it. I would usually resort to RCDB (as that is where I learnt most of what I knew about coasters OUAT, and although their current glossary doesn't actually define what SBNO is, the terminology is used for both a ride or a park, so I would imagine it would be a bit more than just 'whether the train car boat is still present'. Although RCDB don't define it in the glossary, what is telling is the other statuses they do have: In Storage Operating Under Construction SBNO Operated (historical status only) The RCDB entry for the ride pretty much confirms it - http://rcdb.com/1129.htm SBNO since 2006.

Yeah - and ToT launching would be a lot louder at nighttime, not to mention upsetting for the animals all night long... WnW is really the best positioned park to be running into all hours (geographically) - but I can't imagine many would go. Disney can do it firstly because most people around the park love it, they've successfully developed most of the surrounding area now so there aren't many residents close by, but because the majority of their 'big' rides are indoors... and so they don't disturb the neighbours the same way our parks would.

Do you really think so? I'd hate to wait and have the train shipped off before I got a chance to ask again... I really hope so. Casey is quite upset SV has closed as it was her favourite (and one of her first), which is why we had it on our wedding day. At this point i'm just thankful it was operating that day... and we had three photographers (and an on ride camera) to capture it!

I think the discussion on Shockwave vs. Surfrider is an interesting one. From memory (and it's been a while) - isn't Surfrider's propulsion contained within on the track? Isn't the 'car' a free wheeling vehicle propelled by LIM or similar? I don't know if the 'manufacturer's name' is the yardstick though - because although Surfrider is a 'Halfpipe Coaster', the Shockwave is a Disk'O Coaster, but to me, it's just an extension of the Disk'O which is a flat. Although there are exceptions to the rule on both sides, i'm generally of the view that if the car train gondola is capable of propelling itself (such as the Scooby cars when the eyes detect a fire) means it DOESN'T COAST, and therefore isn't a roller coaster. Shockwave propels itself, so in my view it isn't a coaster. Again as I said there can be exceptions on both sides so its always going to be a grey area and a bone of contention for those who don't necessarily agree. For me personally - my yardstick is Duane Marden. If it's on RCDB, it's a coaster.

A VW Beetle is a roller coaster now?

I'm surprised this didn't get a mention anywhere - Video Article (headline should read "Sensationalist media desperate to get you to read story") A standard power-failure E-stop, plus a lift hill evac somehow becomes this: (drama queen sections in red) As you can see, the lift hill isn't that steep, they aren't on the track but a purpose built (and obviously safe) staircase, and people were so scared, they took the opportunity to film it. It didn't sound like any were distressed, just a little wowed by the whole situation. Mainstream media does it again! (and if you didn't click, the article comes from 9MSN)

ToT (and many other similar ride types around the world) have long been classed as Roller Coasters for the purposes of classification (as well as record holding). Although this is from a Wiki page, it does hit the nail pretty well on the head in my opinion: So ToT is a shuttle, single car, with a track that rises once. Whilst I fully appreciate your opinion Brad, I must disagree over the discussion being semantics (although off-topic). The general concensus in the wider community is that the ride type is in fact a coaster - even to a point that some class it's bigger brother - Superman: Escape from Krypton as a Strata Coaster - the criteria of which is a roller coaster that exceeds 400 feet. (from the same wiki page posted earlier): From this page: Superman: Escape from Krypton (originally known as Superman: The Escape) is a steel shuttle roller coaster built by Intamin at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, United States. When it opened in 1997, it was the tallest and joint fastest roller coaster in the world. It is similar to Tower of Terror II, which opened two months prior at Dreamworld in Australia. These two coasters were the first to utilize Linear Synchronous Motors (LSM) technology to propel vehicles to top speed. It was originally intended to open in 1996 but was delayed due to several issues with the launch system. The ride closed throughout the latter half of 2010 for the transformation into "Superman: Escape from Krypton" from "Superman: The Escape". The refurbished ride opened on March 19, 2011 with new trains that face backwards. The ride was also redecorated with a new color scheme. As of 2013, Superman: Escape from Krypton has the third tallest structure, the joint fifth fastest speed and the third longest drop.

I meant value as in price tag - which is extremely EASY to measure.

Well specifically - the item I was enquiring about wasn't scrap metal, was easily removed and wasn't likely to be something needed by a future purchaser, as it was specific to the name theme of the ride. If you have a good memory - I asked for a photo of it in this thread a few pages back. If you don't - it's the rubber step tread with the SV logo on the side wall of the train next to every seat. Ideally the ones in the front seat to match the spot we rode for our wedding. This was the actual response:

Sadly, VRTP won't be selling any pieces of the ride due to their assets policies. Not much chance of a wedding souvenir.